history of occassional constipation type problems.. most of my childhood and teen years..none of it all that uncommon.. or this bad.. but that was until age 19, when i started drinking more water and drastically reducing my soda intake.. and improving my eating habits.. this is the first time it's been like this, this bad, since i was 8.. i think the traveling I did and lack of adequate liquids throughout along with eating so much take-out for those two-three weeks screwed everything up.. might've caused an extreme change in my bowel habits I guess.. i had been feeling quite and I mean quite dehydrated previous to this.. i think i know the cause.. what i'm not sure is what the effect was.. or the extent of it.. first thing I did after the first "episode" was eat plenty of ruffage/veggies and drink plenty of water.. but then came the next time I had to go the bathroom.. and ran into the same problem.. Thing was though.. I couldn't explain the slight 'diarrihea' just barely making its way through.. all the while feeling the strain and pain of that dry/hard seemingly immoveable stool that I just couldn't the first time, and still can't seem to expunge.. First time I've experienced this variety of intenstinal problems.. so I wasn't sure if i should treat it like constipation.. or consider the possibility of it being something worrisome like a fecal-impacted bowel obstruction.. as for bleeding/black stool question.. it's not black, or dark.. nothing out of the ordinary..and the bleeding that does occur is mostly a secondary syptom to the straining etc.. as it happens 'afterwards' instead of 'during'. but most of the people that have replied here seem to think it's just constipation.. so I guess my last option.. before thinking of heading to a doctor.. is to try some of the suggestions here.. lots of soluble fiber.. lots of water.. im getting several fiber supplemental powders/tablets.. and/or fiber therapy over the counter stuff.. possibly a stool softener as well.. not sure.. but i'm hoping that a combination of this and ingesting even more water will be enough.. Finalsbound says she's experienced something like this before and it passed just by doing this combo.. so, hopefully i get the same results.. i too rather avoid extremes like laxatives and other stuff that can do more harm than good..
If you aren't careful, you could give yourself a long term problem that can potentially be very serious... diverticulosis, a pocket punched into the side of your lower intestine. The pockets can become infected and inflamed, causing fever and lots of other problems, and make you very sick. I had this happen in my early 20's, an unusual thing. It normally occurs during middle age (where I'm at now... bummer!). I haven't had problems with it for years and eat what I want, but that wasn't the case for a long time. Look it up on the internet. Worst case? One becomes perforated, which allows everything in your intestine to go into your body cavity, which is very dangerous. Go see a doctor, you goofus! (with all due respect! )
i can make it worse and risk developing something as severe as your two examples.. by taking more fiber and drinking more water? see i want to try this first before deciding to go to a doctor.. and I'm trying to be optimistic and hopeful.. so.. thanks for that..
Force yourself to poop at least once per day and eat lots of fiber and drink prune juice. I think its recommended to poop at least once per day or more for good health. Then if it doesn't get better in like a month go see a doctor.
By all means, take ground psyllium seeds with loads of water. Doing that for several years apparently "cured" me of the condition. When I had that area scoped out (the things they make you do when you get older! not fun at all), the specialist said, "By the way, did you know you have diverticulosis?" At least something amusing came out of the experience.
Psyllium husk powder is good for solving these problems. Also Senna is a commonly used herb also. Drink about a gallon of water as well. You can find all of these supplements at places like HEB or Vitamin Shoppe.
I'll have to see into those next time.. hopefully there isn't a next time.. Unfortunately by the time I saw the post mentioning psyllium seeds.. I had already done my shopping as it were.. and already started treatment with Citrucel caplets, a methylcellulose fiber therapy.. And I hear it's bad to mix or combine treatments.. Hopefully I picked the right one.. Also got some benefiber powder, and LOTS of water..
Yea, you generally want to pick a bulk forming agent. Citrucel I think is a bulk forming agent, but it sometimes has sugar in it. Psyllium and Senna are all natural type stuff. Another thing is you might not have enough bacteria in your intestines for the food to pass through. In that case you might need to buy some natural Probiotic bacteria capules. It runs about 10 bucks for 60 capsules. You can find it in Health section at HEB. The capsules need to be refrigerated since they contain live bacteria. Its good bacteria like found in yogurt. And lots of water means like a gallon at least. Drink over the course of the day to obtain maximum absorption.
